


Late Night Giggles

by pressxforfeels



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Tickling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-07-31 16:34:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,271
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20118175
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pressxforfeels/pseuds/pressxforfeels
Summary: Hermione is staying up late studying (and possibly studying too hard) so Ginny decides to try and distract her because that’s helping.





	Late Night Giggles

“I think everyone else has gone to bed.”

There was no denying that the common room was rather peaceful this late at night given how quiet it was, most of the others either already in bed sound asleep or in their own rooms for the night. The only sounds to be heard were the ones that came with whatever the night held, the crackling of a dying out fire, or as was the case tonight the soft sound of pages being flipped by a certain wild haired brunette.

The same brunette that Ginny knew for a fact had already spent at least three nights this week down in the common room after hours.

Something that she knew shouldn’t have surprised her and, really, didn’t. She’d known Hermione long enough now to know what she was like when it came to her schoolwork and, more importantly, how she could get when she came across something that she found challenging.

_Stubborn_ was the word that the redhead would’ve been tempted to use to describe her attitude when tackling a problem, but somehow that didn’t feel quite fitting enough. Didn’t do how tenacious and determined Hermione was nearly enough justice. The same way that labeling her attitude as _stubborn _wouldn’t have expressed how much she might have admired that about her.

Silently, of course.

Or, well, not so silently as the case was tonight.

“_Bed_. That place where people go at night so they can sleep?” Ginny continued, taking a few steps closer to try and make her presence known. “Sleep... you do remember what that is, don’t you?”

She was tempted to keep going, to ramble on until Hermione finally looked up from the book that she had her nose buried in, although when Ginny leaned forward and took in the other girl’s appearance more closely she stopped herself.

Tonight there was something different about Hermione.

It wasn’t anything that would’ve been too noticeable to anyone else (maybe Harry or Ron if either had really been paying attention), nothing that would have stood out to anyone else. Although, to Ginny, the changes were as obvious as night and day.

The slight downturn of the corners of her lips paired with the way that she’d catch her bottom lip between her teeth -- a mixture of concentration and frustration -- was nothing unusual and seemed to be a staple of the ‘deep in thought Hermione Granger’, but when the frown was set in deeper and chewing was involved? That was different.

Ginny also couldn’t help but notice the darker circles under the other girl’s eyes, the way that hap hazardously way that her hair had been thrown up and out of her face, or how tightly she was gripping the edges of her book.

Perhaps those were all signs that she should’ve left the brunette alone and waited until the morning to address what seemed to clearly be stress. That she should’ve done what she was certain anyone else would have in this situation -- or, at the very least, announced herself more loudly -- but Ginny never had been great at doing exactly what others would have.

Especially not when it seemed like a friend needed her help.

Or that friend happened to be someone that she may have hoped could be more than that and still hadn’t found the right words to express that just yet.

A thought that Ginny found herself pushing to the back of her mind as she closed the distance between the two of them, deciding to focus her attention on distracting both of them from their thoughts.

With a small smile playing on her lips Ginny took a seat next to her friend, leaning in closer once she was settled. “Is the book really that more interesting than I am?” She tried her best to keep the amusement out of her voice when she saw the brunette jump after the first couple of words had come out, clearly not having realized she was there despite Ginny’s earlier ramble and demonstration of the empty common room.

“Ginny.” The way her name was said was chastising enough without any other words tacked onto it and was also enough to break the redhead’s composure, giggles starting to break through and then quickly spilling out when Hermione’s expression went from startled to resembling that of an incredibly offended cat.

“You shouldn’t sneak up on people, Ginny, it’s rude and... look, now I’ve lost my place and there’s ink all over these notes!”

Ginny was sure that if she was giggling less she’d have been able to offer an apology or make a joke to ease the situation. That she could’ve offered to help Hermione clean up, explain that she’d been here for quite a while now and that she was too absorbed in her work to notice, or, really, anything at all. 

Something more than the giggles that she now couldn’t stop and certainly weren’t being helped by the way Hermione was looking at her.

How her expression was now changing from offended cat to something softer, something that Ginny couldn’t quite place. Not that she had much time either, considering that just as quickly as she saw that expression another took its place and that one she was able to identify just fine.

And, even if she hadn’t been able to, the fingers that skittered along her sides and the words that she could barely make out over the increased volume of her laughter, were more than enough of an indicator for what she was in for now.

“I suppose I’ll have to give you a proper reason for all the laughing you’re already doing.”

Ginny found herself wanting to say something again -- and even opened her mouth to do so -- though when the fingers on her side moved further up any hope of that was lost.

Instead more laughter poured out of her mouth along with a squeal or two she’d certainly deny later on, as she leaned forward in a half-hearted attempt to escape Hermione’s evil fingers.

Fingers that danced over her body in an expert manner that was entirely unfair and would’ve been something that Ginny protested over if she could have.

Well, that and if it weren’t for the fact that it was enough to pull Hermione away from her work, distract her from whatever thoughts were troubling her, and allowed Ginny the chance to hear her laughter as well.

“M-mercy, mercy!” Ginny choked out after Hermione managed to find a particularly sensitive spot, grateful that the brunette backed off immediately, her laughter going from frantic back to the earlier stream of giggles. Ones that mixed with Hermione’s when the two girls looked at one another, suddenly finding the entire situation too funny to not laugh about, the room once again filled with laughter for a different reason this time.

Soon enough the room was quiet once again, only interrupted when Ginny heard a soft “thank you.”

A _thank you_ that she knew she didn’t need to reply to -- that she didn’t _want _to reply to not wanting to ruin the comfortable silence -- and instead found herself standing up and holding out her hand for the other girl to take.

It was enough to know that maybe she helped Hermione take her mind off of her problems and more than enough to know that she’d been able to make her smile.

It was certainly enough to be holding her hand now and leading her up the stairs to her room.

Maybe not the right room, though Ginny could always hope that maybe someday that would happen (a girl could dream).


End file.
